These use the basic "Socka" formula for heel turns, gussets, etc. They use a Barbara Walker lace pattern. And I adopted the heel styling from one of the sock patterns in the Spin-off socks book. (Even though I am a scientist, I decided it was better to cite my sources up front rather than footnote and provide a "Literature Cited" section!).
If you find an error or need a clarification, E-mail Me at ecorbett@netcommander.com.
Also, if you do make these up, I'd love to hear what color and what
brand of yarn you used,
and who you knitted them for.
Enjoy.
Gauge:
9 sts to the inch, 12 rows to the inch (that's what I got).
Materials:
I used size 0 needles. They just fit my feet.
You might want to go up to 1’s and allow for a slightly looser gauge.
I used Brown Sheep Wildfoote. (fingering weight) It took almost exactly
one skein per sock (50 g or 215 yards).
I have 9 1/4 inch long feet. If your feet are bigger or you go to a
slightly looser gauge, you will want to be sure you have 3 skeins of sock
yarn for these socks.
Actually, I would recommend another yarn than Wildfoote. I used it because
I loved the color
(Capri Turquoise) but it is kind of splitty for such small scale lace
work. Probably for less-fine yarn (e.g., Socka), you will need more yardage.
I would consider this an intermediate to advanced pattern. You need to be somewhat comfortable with lace work and small needles for it.
I used 80 sts on sock yarn. You could also, I think, alter this to work
with 60 sts on a DK weight yarn. - using 30 sts for the heel, and so forth.
I would think size 3 needles would work for this.
Stitch patterns used:
Rib to use: lacy rib.
Row 1: k3, p2
Row 2: k1, yo, ssk, p2
Row 3: k3, p2
Row 4: k2tog, yo, k1, p2
Fern leaf lace
Rewritten for sock cuffs (reversed plus circularized).
I wrote this for a set of 5 needles. You may need to “play” with it
if you are going to try to do the socks over 4 needles.
Row 1: K
Row 2: * yo, k3, sl1 - k2tog - psso, k3, yo, k1*
Row 3: K
Row 4: *yo, k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2, yo, k1*
Row 5: K
Row 6: *yo, k1, k2tog, k3, ssk, k1, yo, k1*
Row 7: K
Row 8: * yo, k2tog, k5, ssk, yo, k1*
Row 9: K around but STOP 2 sts from the end
Row 10: (problematic row): take 2 sts from end of last rnd, sl1, k2tog,
psso, then *k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, sl1 - k2tog -psso* but don’t do last
decrease. At end of round, pass “first” st on each needle back to the end
of the previous needle. (because it actually includes a st from that
previous needle). You'll also want to rearrange the sts on the other
needles, too.
Round 11: K
Round 12: *ssk, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, k1*
Round 13: K
Round 14: *k1, ssk, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, k2tog, k2*
Round 15: K
Round 16: *k2, ssk, yo, k1, yo, k2tog, k3*
Sock directions:
Cast on 70 sts using a stretchy cast on (I used the Long-Tail or Continental).
I arranged the sts as 20-15-20-15 on four needles
Work 3 rounds of k3, p2 to set up
Then, work the Lacy Rib over the 70 sts for 5 pattern repeats (20 rows).
The cuffs should measure 1 5/8 inches.
On the next round, k around and increase one st every 7 sts.
You should have 80 sts at the end.
Rearrange the sts so that there are 20 on each of 4 dp needles.
Begin working the Fern Leaf Lace pattern.
Watch out for row 10! It takes a couple go-rounds to get the hang of
it. I worked 5 repeats of the pattern - 80 rows total This gave a cuff
of almost 7 1/2 inches.
The pattern is continued down the instep so if you stop at a row other
than 16, make a note of where you stopped.
Heel flap: I used “eye of partridge” stitch with the little garter st
edge that I think EZ popularized. I worked the heel on 40 sts (20 from
needle 1, 20 from needle 4).
This keeps the stitch pattern sort of centered.
“wyib” - with yarn in back. You are slipping purlwise but holding the yarn at the back of the work.
Heel pattern: 4 rows
Row 1: sl 1, k3, * k1, sl 1 wyib* (repeat * to * 16 times), k3, p1
Row 2: sl 1, k3, p32, k3, p1
Row 3: sl 1, k3, *sl 1 wyib, k1* (repeat from * to * 16 times), k3,
p1
Row 4: sl 1, k3, p32, k3, sl 1
I repeated these four rows 10 times (40 rows) to get a heel flap of about 2 1/2 inches.
Turning of heel (using the “Dutch heel”)
Row 1: K 27, sl 1, k1, psso, turn
Row 2: sl 1, p 14, p2tog, turn
Row 3: sl 1, k 14, sl 1, k1, psso, turn
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until all sts have been worked.
You should have 16 sts remaining.
You will end with row 2.
Now knit across those sts.
Pick up stitches for gusset: If you want a nice fancy edge, you can
just pick up the back of the
slipped sts (I learned this trick from the Cabled Sweat Socks in the
Spin-off Socks book).
Wanting to make these socks feminine-fancy to the max, I did the little
fancy edge.
Pick up 21 sts on the edge of the heel flap using the same needle holding
the heel sts.
Work row 1 (k plain) across the instep.
Pick up 21 sts on the other edge of the heel flap and knit 8 of the
heel sts onto the same needle.
Now start working the gussets and insteps.
You will be decreasing every third row on these socks. In other
words, you will decrease on rows 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 of the first pattern
repeat and rows 2, 5, 8, and 11 on the second pattern repeat.
Start working in the pattern again.
You will work needles 1 and 4 (the sole) in plain stockinette (knit
every row) but work the pattern on the instep needles.
The pattern is actually 1 st off being centered, but I think the “galloping horse” rule applies on these.
You will be knitting the instep pattern just as you did the leg, EXCEPT row 10 is different on the instep. I am repeating the Fern Lace pattern here with the new row 10 for the instep:
Fern Leaf Lace for a sock instep:
Row 1: K
Row 2: * yo, k3, sl1 - k2tog - psso, k3, yo, k1*
Row 3: K
Row 4: *yo, k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2, yo, k1*
Row 5: K
Row 6: *yo, k1, k2tog, k3, ssk, k1, yo, k1*
Row 7: K
Row 8: * yo, k2tog, k5, ssk, yo, k1*
Row 9: K
Row 10: k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, k3, sl 1-k2tog-psso, * k3, yo, k1, yo,
k3, sl 1-k2tog-psso,*,
repeat from * to *, except at very end of Needle 3, k2tog instead of
sl 1-k2tog-psso.
Round 11: K
Round 12: *ssk, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, k1*
Round 13: K
Round 14: *k1, ssk, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, k2tog, k2*
Round 15: K
Round 16: *k2, ssk, yo, k1, yo, k2tog, k3*
As you are doing this, you will be decreasing every 3rd round of the
repeat starting with round
3 until you are back to 20 sts per needle.
Decreases: at end of needle 1, sl 1, k1, psso. At start of needle 4: ssk.
For my foot (size 38 Birkies), I needed to do 4 repeats of the pattern
plus 9 additional rows of another repeat (a little more than 4 1/2 pattern
repeats).
It’s easiest to end after a K row.
Toe shaping:
Decreases:
Needle 1 and 3: K to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2
Needle 2 and 4: k2, ssk, then k the rest of the sts.
Row 1: do decreases as stated above
Row 2: knit around plain
Repeat row 1 and 2 until there are 10 sts remaining per needle.
(This should be 20 rows total)
Then, dec every row until 16 sts remain.
Weave toes using kitchener stitch.
Take a deep breath, fix a cup of tea, and start your second sock!